SONAHR: July 26, 2015 – The light-heavyweight division begins and ends with Sergey (Krusher) Kovalev, the Russian juggernaut who has thus far crushed every opponent unfortunate enough to be placed in his path. Kovalev did his thing again last night, disposing of the hapless Nadjib Mohammedi in three one-sided rounds at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. In the process, Kovalev easily retained his WBA, WBO, and IBF titles in the 175-lb. class.
Mohammedi, who is from France, came into the fight with an undefeated record in 40 fights. He was the IBF?s mandatory contender for its crown, and was ranked No. 9 in the latest issue of The Ring magazine. Las Vegas oddsmakers were so impressed by these credentials that they made Mohammedi a 150-to-1 underdog. That?s more than three times the 42-1 odds Buster Douglas faced going into his shocking triumph over Mike Tyson back in 1990. Had Mohammedi managed to win, it would have been an upset for the ages.
As it turned out, the odds might as well have been 1,500-to-1. Kovalev had no trouble at all in finishing off his foe. The Vegas fight crowd got a chance to see a fighter who has done most of his recent work north of the U.S. border in Montreal. Kovalev?s annihilation of Mohammedi had to have whetted their appetites to see more of the Krusher ? hopefully against someone who can offer more resistance than the Frenchman put up.
That ?someone? is Adonis Stevenson, who holds the WBC piece of the light-heavyweight championship pie. Stevenson is also recognized as ?lineal? champion by The Ring. Like Kovalev, Stevenson is a powerful puncher, which makes for a mouth-watering matchup between the two. And, given that Stevenson?s home base is Montreal, there?s a local-rivalry angle as well.
Kovalev wasted no time in calling Stevenson out, spewing out trash-talk that could have come out of the mouth of Floyd Mayweather Jr. The Russian?s confidence is well-placed. For all Stevenson?s prowess as a knockout artist, his overall skill level nowhere near as high as Kovalev?s. Plus which, Stevenson is pushing 40, and he has been relatively inactive since his breakout year of 2013. An aging, rusty Stevenson would be an underdog against Kovalev ? not a prohibitive 150-to-1, but an underdog nonetheless. If he is indeed ducking Kovalev, that?s understandable.
Still, Kovalev-Stevenson is the light-heavyweight contest fans are most eager to see. It would be a box-office blockbuster in Montreal. It could even draw respectable business in Las Vegas, now that Kovalev has shown his stuff in such spectacular fashion. But the fight is not likely to happen. Someone else will probably beat Stevenson, and Kovalev has the option of moving up to cruiserweight. A showdown between him and WBO champion Marco Huck would be something to see. So would a catchweight confrontation with middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
